The subject matter disclosed herein relates generally to imaging systems, and more particularly to proximity detection system for a medical imaging system.
Diagnostic nuclear imaging is used to study radionuclide distribution in a subject, such as a patient. Typically, one or more radiopharmaceuticals or radioisotopes are injected into the patient. Gamma camera detector heads, typically including a collimator, are placed adjacent to a surface of the patient to monitor and record emitted radiation. At least some known gamma camera detector heads are rotated around the patient to monitor the emitted radiation from a plurality of directions. The monitored radiation data from the plurality of directions is reconstructed into a three dimensional image representation of the radiopharmaceutical distribution within the patient.
Generally, the resolution of a gamma camera degrades with increasing distance between the imaged organ and the detector. In operation, it is desirable to place the gamma camera as close as possible to the patient to facilitate minimizing the loss of resolution. While it is desireable to place the gamma camera as close as possible to the patient to perform an imaging operation, it is also desireable to reposition the gamma camera to avoid contact with the patient.
Accordingly, at least some known conventional gamma cameras include a proximity sensor that alerts the operator that the gamma camera may be too close to the patient. However, conventional proximity sensors typically have a flat profile and are therefore not easily adaptable to many gamma cameras, such as for example, cameras having curved scanning surfaces. Moreover, conventional proximity sensors typical protrude a distance beyond the detector surface to enable the proximity sensor to identify a potential contact prior to the gamma cameras contacting the patient or contacting each other. The conventional proximity sensors protrude a distance to interfere or prohibit the gamma cameras from being positioned in certain scanning arrangements, such as, for example, an L-mode configuration. Moreover, the conventional proximity sensors are relatively expensive, thus increasing the overall cost of an imaging system.